The present invention is a new wide area service provided to businesses and private clients. The invention relates to the field of telecommunications recording and distribution systems and, in particular, to a method and system for recording multimedia communication data that can be distributed throughout various public networks and, further, to a method for providing users with the recorded material using standard, off-the-shelf (OTS), distribution utilities. The invention improves upon systems already in place and includes new and unique equipment and features not previously considered.
The written description of the invention below uses a large number of acronyms and art-specific terms to refer to various services, messages and system components. Although most of these acronyms and terms are known to those skilled in the art, some are not standard in the art. Therefore, for purposes of this disclosure certain acronyms and terms are defined as follows:
ACDxe2x80x94(Automatic Call Distributor) A computerized phone system that routes incoming telephone calls to the next available operator or agent. ACDs are the electronic heart of call centers, which are widely used in telephone sales and service departments of all organizations. The ACD responds to the caller with a voice menu and connects the call to an appropriate individual.
Call Centerxe2x80x94A company department that handles telephone sales and/or service. Call centers use automatic call distributors (ACDs) to route calls to the appropriate agent or operator.
COxe2x80x94(Central Office) A local telephone company switching center. There are two types. The first is called an xe2x80x9cend officexe2x80x9d (EO) or xe2x80x9clocal exchangexe2x80x9d (LE) and connects directly to the outside plant, which is the feeder and distribution system to homes and offices. The end office (often called a xe2x80x9cClass 5 officexe2x80x9d) provides customer services such as call waiting and call forwarding. The second type is the tandem office (also toll office or tandem/toll office), which is a central office that does not connect directly to the customer. Toll call record generation and accounting used to be handled in the tandem offices. Today, the billing is mostly done in the end offices. There are more than 25,000 central offices in the U.S.
CTIxe2x80x94(Computer Telephone Integration) Combining data with voice systems in order to enhance telephone services. For example, automatic number identification (ANI) allows a caller""s records to be retrieved from the database while the call is routed to the appropriate party. Automatic telephone dialing from an address list is an outbound example.
DSLxe2x80x94(Digital Subscriber Line) A technology that dramatically increases the digital capacity of ordinary telephone lines (the local loops) into the home or office. DSL speeds are tied to the distance between the customer and the telco central office. DSL is geared to two types of usage. Asymmetric DSL (ADSL) is for Internet access, where fast downstream is required, but slow upstream is acceptable. Symmetric DSL (SDSL, HDSL, etc.) is designed for short haul connections that require high speed in both directions. Unlike ISDN, which is also digital but travels through the switched telephone network, DSL provides xe2x80x9calways-onxe2x80x9d operation. At the telco central office, DSL traffic is aggregated in a unit called the DSL Access Multiplexor (DSLAM) and forwarded to the appropriate ISP or data network.
DTMFxe2x80x94(Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency) The type of audio signals that are generated when you press the buttons on a touch-tone telephone.
GPRSxe2x80x94(General Packet Radio Service) An enhancement to the GSM mobile communications system that supports data packets. GPRS enables continuos flows of IP data packets over the system for such applications as Web browsing and file transfer. GPRS differs from GSM""s short messaging service (GSM-SMS) which is limited to messages of 160 bytes in length.
Nonvoice value-added service that allows information to be sent and received across a Mobile Telephone Network.
GSMxe2x80x94(Global System for Mobile Communications) A digital cellular phone technology based on TDMA that is the predominant system in Europe, but is also used around the world. Developed in the 1980s, GSM was first deployed in seven European countries in 1992. Operating in the 900 MHz and 1.8 GHz bands in Europe and the 1.9 GHz PCS band in the U.S., GSM defines the entire cellular system, not just the air interface (TDMA, CDMA, etc.). As of 2000, there were more than 250 million GSM users, which is more than half of the world""s mobile phone population.
GSM phones use a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) smart card that contains user account information. Any GSM phone becomes immediately programmed after plugging in the SIM card, thus allowing GSM phones to be easily rented or borrowed. SIM cards can be programmed to display custom menus for personalized services. GSM provides a short messaging service (SMS) that enables text messages up to 160 characters in length to be sent to and from a GSM phone. It also supports data transfer at 9.6 Kbps to packet networks, ISDN and POTS users. GSM is a circuit-switched system that divides each 200 KHz channel into eight 25 KHz time slots.
ICRxe2x80x94(Intelligent Call Router) A software-based call processing application that provides call-by-call routing to geographically distributed call centers. The system receives real-time status information from all switching systems in a call center enterprise to create a real-time picture of the status of agents, calls, and peripherals throughout the enterprise. Combine this with the ability to distribute calls through different switching platforms and multiple carriers, and you have a complete intelligent call routing solution.
INxe2x80x94(Intelligent Network) The public switched telephone network architecture of the 1990s, which was developed by Bellcore (now Telcordia) and the ITU. It was created to provide a variety of advanced telephony services such as 800 number translation, local number portability (LNP), call forwarding, call screening and wireless integration. While Bellcore named its version AIN (Advanced Intelligent Network) for use in North America, there are a variety of proprietary versions throughout the world based on the ITU standard. The IN uses the SS7 signaling protocol in which voice calls (or modem data) travels through circuit-switched voice switches, while control signals travel over an SS7 packet-switched network.
ISDNxe2x80x94(Integrated Services Digital Network) An international telecommunications standard for providing a digital service from the customer""s premises to the dial-up telephone network. ISDN turns one existing wire pair into two channels and four wire pairs into 23 channels for the delivery of voice, data or video. Unlike an analog modem, which converts digital signals into an equivalency in audio frequencies, ISDN deals only with digital transmission. Analog telephones and fax machines are used over ISDN lines, but their signals are converted into digital by the ISDN modem.
ISDN uses 64 Kbps circuit-switched channels, called xe2x80x9cB channelsxe2x80x9d (bearer channels) to carry voice and data. It uses a separate D channel (delta channel) for control signals. The D channel signals the carrier""s voice switch to make calls, put them on hold and activate features such as conference calling and call forwarding. It also receives information about incoming calls, such as the identity of the caller. Since the D channel connects directly to the telephone system""s SS7 signaling network, ISDN calls are dialed much faster than regular telephone calls.
ISDN""s basic service is BRI (Basic Rate Interface), which is made up of two 64 Kbps B channels and one 16 Kbps D channel (2B+D). If both channels are combined into one, called xe2x80x9cbonding,xe2x80x9d the total data rate becomes 128 Kbps and is four and a half times the bandwidth of a V.34 modem (28.8 Kbps).
ISDN""s high-speed service is PRI (Primary Rate Interface). It provides 23 B channels and one 64 Kbps D channel (23B+D), which is equivalent to the 24 channels of a T1 line. When several channels are bonded together, high data rates can be achieved. For example, it is common to bond six channels for quality videoconferencing at 384 Kbps. In Europe, PRI includes 30 B channels and one D channel, equivalent to an E1 line.
ISPxe2x80x94(Internet Service Provider) An organization that provides access to the Internet. Small Internet service providers (ISPs) provide service via modem and ISDN while the larger ones also offer private line hookups (T1, fractional T1, etc.). Customers are generally billed a fixed rate per month, but other charges may apply. For a fee, a Web site can be created and maintained on the ISP""s server, allowing the smaller organization to have a presence on the Web with its own domain name.
Large Internet services, such as America Online (AOL) and Microsoft Network (MSN), also provide proprietary databases, forums and services in addition to Internet access.
MSCxe2x80x94(Mobile Switching Center) The GSM equivalent of an MTSO (Mobile Telephone Switching Office).
MTSOxe2x80x94(Mobile Telephone Switching Office) An operations center that connects the landline PSTN system to the mobile phone system. It is also responsible for compiling call information for billing and handing off calls from one cell to another.
PBXxe2x80x94(Private Branch eXchange) An in-house telephone switching system that interconnects telephone extensions to each other, as well as to the outside telephone network. It may include functions such as least cost routing for outside calls, call forwarding, conference calling and call accounting. Modem PBXs use all-digital methods for switching and may support both digital terminals and telephones along with analog telephones.
PCMxe2x80x94(Pulse Code Modulation) A technique for converting analog signals into digital form that is widely used by the telephone companies in their TI circuits. Every minute of the day, millions of telephone conversations, as well as data transmissions via modem, are converted into digital via PCM for transport over high-speed intercity trunks. In North America and Japan, PCM samples the analog waves 8,000 times per second and converts each sample into an 8-bit number, resulting in a 64 Kbps data stream (a single DSO channel). The sampling rate is twice the 4 KHz bandwidth required for a toll-quality conversation.
PRNxe2x80x94(Predefined Recorded Numbers) Each recorded call in accordance with the present invention is determined based on whether the number, or identification, of the calling party is a designated PRN. If so, the call data is recorded and stored, if not, the data is not rerouted to the acquisition portion of the system.
PSTNxe2x80x94(Public Switched Telephone Network) The worldwide voice telephone network. Once only an analog system, the heart of most telephone networks today is all digital. In the U.S., most of the remaining analog lines are the ones from your house or office to the telephone company""s central office (CO).
SS7xe2x80x94(Signaling System 7) The protocol used in the public switched telephone system (the xe2x80x9cintelligent networkxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cadvanced intelligent networkxe2x80x9d) for setting up calls and providing services. SS7 is a separate signaling network that is used in Class 4 and Class 5 voice switches.
The SS7 network sets up and tears down the call, handles all the routing decisions and supports all modem telephony services such as 800 numbers, call forwarding, caller ID and local number portability (LNP). The voice switches known as xe2x80x9cservice switching pointsxe2x80x9d (SSPs) query xe2x80x9cservice control pointxe2x80x9d (SCP) databases using packet switches known as xe2x80x9csignal transfer pointsxe2x80x9d (STPs).
Accessing databases using a separate signaling network enables the system to more efficiently obtain static information such as the services a customer has signed up for and dynamic information such as ever-changing traffic conditions in the network. In addition, a voice circuit is not tied up until a connection is actually made between both parties. There is an international version of SS7 standardized by the ITU, and national versions determined by each country. For example, ANSI governs the U.S. standard for SS7, and Telcordia (Bellcore) provides an extension of ANSI for its member companies.
VoIPxe2x80x94(Voice Over IP) a.k.a. IP Telephony. The two-way transmission of audio over an IP network. When used in a private intranet or WAN, it is generally known as xe2x80x9cvoice over IP,xe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cVoIP.xe2x80x9d When the public Internet is the transport vehicle, it is referred to as xe2x80x9cInternet telephony,xe2x80x9d however, both terms are used synonymously.
Private networks can provide from good to excellent quality, matching that of the PSTN. Over the Internet, voice quality varies considerably; however, protocols that support quality of service (QoS) are expected to improve this condition. Nevertheless, Internet telephony means free voice calls as long as sending and receiving users have identical software that uses proprietary techniques or compatible software that uses the H.323 standard. They must also be willing to talk from their PCs and to prearrange the times to talk. When users go online and launch their IP telephony client software, the session and current IP address is registered on a directory server on the Internet so that others may contact them.
Using Internet telephony service providers (ITSPs), users can make PC-to-phone or phone-to-phone calls, using the Internet as the network backbone. ITSPs have been initially popular for international calls. Another IP telephony application that is expected to take off is with call centers that can answer a question directly from a Web site. This voice integration is desired by user and vendor alike and is expected to flourish in the 2001-2003 timeframe.
The IP protocol is either being used or being considered for future network backbones by all the major telecom carriers.
WANxe2x80x94A network that connects Local Area Networks (LANs). Usually, uses dedicated lines leased from the telephone company or Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) lines.
WAPxe2x80x94(Wireless Application Protocol) A standard for providing cellular phones, pagers and other handheld devices with secure access to e-mail and text-based Web pages. Introduced in 1997 by Phone.com (formerly Unwired Planet), Ericsson, Motorola and Nokia, WAP provides a complete environment for wireless applications that includes a wireless counterpart of TCP/IP and a framework for telephony integration such as call control and phone book access. WAP features the Wireless Markup Language (WML), which was derived from Phone.com""s HDML and is a streamlined version of HTML for small screen displays. It also uses WMLScript, a compact JavaScript-like language that runs in limited memory. WAP also supports handheld input methods such as a keypad and voice recognition. Independent of the air interface, WAP runs over all the major wireless networks in place now and in the future. It is also device independent, requiring only a minimum functionality in the unit so that it can be used with a myriad of phones and handheld devices.
Recording and archiving data is a frequent and well known practice within various industries, as well as among private individuals. The benefits of retaining copies of written documents, for example, have been recognized for hundreds of years and, as a result, techniques for recording and archiving copies of written documents have evolved over time. With the advent of more modem forms of communication, however, recording and archiving copies of each communication has required the development of new techniques and technologies.
For example, systems have been developed for recording and archiving telecommunication transactions in commercial environments. There are a number of companies, such as Comverse Infosys, Racal Electronics, and Nice Systems Ltd., among others, that currently provide limited telecommunication voice-recording products. Commercial recording, storage and subsequent retrieval of audio messages is required, for example, when financial, personal, contractual or legal information is transmitted, and when emergency services, call center services and/or conference calls are conducted by telephone through public telecommunication networks.
The majority of prior art systems that service the institutional sector, or clients that have a large number of users, require special hardware and software located at the premises of the end-users of the system. Accordingly, because the special hardware is located at the users"" premises, whenever a change is required in the system, either because of problems with the system or advances in the technology, the group""s work environment must be disrupted in order to implement the change. For example, a typical system can support local call recording and retrieval for up to several hundred users. In order to accommodate such loads, traditional systems require expensive upgrades, in the form of system expansion, i.e., providing additional capacity by adding more units, and/or advances in telecom technology, i.e., improvements in the technologies upon which the transmission of the messages is based. Additionally, utilization of such systems requires end-users to manage and maintain the equipment at their premises, a practice that is costly and time-consuming. Accordingly, a system that enables users to record and archive voice transmissions, without the need for the user to either actively maintain the equipment or to have the necessary equipment located at his/her premises, is desired.
In addition to larger institutional users of the type of systems described above, there is also a present need to supply similar systems that service smaller organizations, or even individual users, as well. For example, presently, there does not exist any prior art systems that allow for the selective recording of individual phone conversations on private, individual, phone lines. All prior art systems that even contemplate recording such conversations are part of a larger institutional system where, for example, a company, or some other large organization, purchases the needed equipment, which as mentioned above, typically is placed at the location of the company. Small, individual users usually do not have the resources, or the need, to purchase such a system.
Furthermore, telecom companies do not provide services, such as selective call recording. Some telecom companies provide answering services that will record an incoming call in the event the intended recipient does not answer the call. However, these services are limited to recording the caller""s message and do not include the case of recording a completed two-way call when the recipient actually answers the call. Accordingly, in addition to improvements to the larger institutional, or group, systems, as described above, it is desirable to provide a system that individual users can utilize without being required to purchase and maintain expensive equipment. Thus, if the equipment is located and maintained at the service providers location, the users would be afforded the opportunity to record two-way calls on a required basis. In other words, because the expenses associated with the system are allocated more efficiently, the users would not feel obligated to use the system/service any more often than it needed.
In addition to using public networks for transmitting voice communications, advances in telecommunication technologies have made it possible to transmit various other forms of communications over the same standard public networks. For example, businesses around the world are increasing their use of public networks for transmitting multimedia communications, such as, voice, video, fax, modem, etc., and are increasingly using the Internet (text, voice and video) as a primary source of customer contact. Additionally, these forms of multimedia communication can be transmitted to and from the public networks, both over wireline transmission mediums, such as by using standard landline telephones or computer equipment, as well as over wireless mediums, such as cellular telephones or wireless computer equipment.
Accordingly, in addition to voice transmissions, it is desirable to utilize a preexisting public network infrastructure to send and receive a wide variety of multimedia communications and, as a result, provide recording, storage and distribution/retrieval services to the network users, enabling them to take full advantage of the network-based medium.
For instance, many industries rely on call centers for the collection and dissemination of critical customer information. As call volumes grow, and customer data collection and customer inquiries become more complex, businesses increasingly look for additional functionality, efficiency and flexibility in their communication systems. Improvements in networking technology and innovations in application architecture enable new functionality via the public networks. The present invention takes advantage of the advancements in the telecommunication industry and provides a method by which virtually any form of communication that is transmitted via a public network, can be selectively recorded and then distributed or retrieved by end-users when needed.
Also, many call center customers are now requiring their telemarketing groups to downsize staffs and reduce the hardware costs associated with operating these groups at corporate and satellite offices. As a result, more customers desire agents, such as in the area of telemarketing, to be located at home, instead of being physically located at customer operated telemarketing centers or satellite offices. As a result, current call center architectures are moving toward a network-based (virtual) call center.
Network-based (virtual) call center service enables a company to locate their customer service staff literally anywhere, i.e., at home, or in any remote location of the company""s choice. The network operator is able to provide the virtual call center service to the company through the normal telephone lines. There is no physical xe2x80x9ccenterxe2x80x9d involved, so a company need not secure real estate in order to conduct its call center business, nor does it need to obtain certain required hardware necessary to accommodate a physical call center. All this means savingsxe2x80x94in investment, maintenance and administration for the company and increased network traffic and revenue for the network operator.
It should be emphasized that the present invention, while ideal for call center application, is by no means limited to that application. Because the inventive system resides, at least in part, at the location of the public network, smaller organizations, such as small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and small offices and/or home offices (SOHO), or even individual users, will be able to take advantage of the flexibility of the system and obtain only those services that are needed for that particular user.
Call recording and its associated applications are similar to call center services and would realize similar benefits by being hosted on public networks. Traditional voice recording techniques, however, technically cannot support network-based services in the call center area. In regard to the telemarketing example mentioned above, it would be required to place recording equipment in close proximity to each home agent (wherever they are) or near any call center in the network. This would result in an expensive, nonrealistic, non cost-effective system.
It is, therefore, desired to provide businesses and individual users with a network-based recording system that overcomes the current limitations of the traditional voice recording systems and that would allow for the recording of network-based multimedia communications in addition to voice recording, while at the same time, providing a distributed system that does not require specialized hardware located at each user""s physical location.
Accordingly, the present invention provides both improvements in current communication recording technology as well as innovations in application architecture to enable wide area recording and distribution and retrieval of a wide variety of multimedia communication types. The different types of communication, such as voice, fax, modem, video, etc, can be transmitted over either wireline or wireless mediums using standard public networks. Additionally, a system in accordance with the present invention is capable of handling tens of thousands of users in parallel fashion.
Prior art systems are directed to solving specific inadequacies in voice recording systems and/or are directed to accessing public networks. No prior art system addresses the issue of providing a network-based multimedia recording system that enables the acquisition, recordation and archival of selected communications of various types that are sent over a public network from a wireline or wireless device, or the subsequent retrieval and/or distribution of the recorded content via the same public network using a variety of different convenient retrieval techniques.
For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,881,132 to O""Brien, et al. (Mar. 9, 1999), the inventors describe a method and apparatus for monitoring selected telecommunications sessions in an intelligent switched telephone network. The method involves installation of one or more monitored trunks with translation tables, linksets, and routesets which route all calls to be monitored through monitored loop-back trunks or dedicated inter-office trunk groups. The O""Brien method is described from a telephone service provider""s point of view and is primarily directed to providing a means for recording voice communications without being detected. For example, O""Brien addresses customer service considerations relative to a sales call, or law enforcement agencies"" concerns where they are involved in evidence gathering. O""Brien does not address the broader concepts involved in configuring a complete, network-based system for providing recording, storage, and distribution and retrieval services for the commercial and private sectors who are not currently being provided with such services. In summary, O""Brien primarily focuses on the front-end, telephony interface technology which enables monitoring of voice messages (call content) and data (signaling information) through intelligent switched telephone networks and is not concerned with the recording and retrieval of various network-based multimedia communications.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,055,307 to Behnke, et al. (Apr. 25, 2000), the inventors describe a system for selecting and monitoring home agent communications that are transmitted through an intelligent call processing network from a customer to the home agent. The disclosed invention relates to home agents, such as in distributed telemarketing call center systems for retailers and is focused on providing a wide-area network (WAN) for such call-center activities as might be performed by agents geographically separated from a central office. Information regarding customers who call the retailer is stored, as is any information regarding the particular home agent that the customer has talked to previously. As a result, any subsequent call by the customer is routed to the appropriate agent. A supervisor is also connected to the call and, thus, the call can be monitored for customer service purposes. Behnke et al. does not disclose or consider recording and distributing a variety of multimedia communications.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,078,648 to Albers et al. (Jun. 20, 2000), the inventors disclose a method for an advanced intelligent network (AIN) functionality for electronic surveillance, focusing on law-enforcement activities. The Albers method relies on deploying suitable interface equipment in end office switches of the public telephone network which allows for intelligent routing of calls from one area to another when calls under surveillance cannot be monitored in a particular location due to lack of capability. Albers, however, does not consider the selective recording and distribution of multimedia transmissions as addressed by the present invention.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,923,744 to Cheng, the inventor describes a method of intercepting call communications within an intelligent network (IN) for law enforcement purposes under the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) at a dedicated service control point (SCP) and routing calls and calling information from a public telephone network to selected subscribers for special centralized services. In IN systems, the intelligence is moved out of each local exchange or service switching point (SSP) to one or more SCPs. Calls are routed to the SCPs by an application module utilizing service trigger flags that are activated following a B-number analysis of call signaling information. Similar to Albers, et al., Cheng addresses issues specific to law enforcement and fails to consider network-based multimedia recording and distribution.
Therefore, in view of the current state-of-the-art in network communication recording and retrieval services, and the corresponding limitations thereto, it would be desirable to provide a method and a system that; includes a wide area solution that bridges over geographical distances of the public networks without loading the network; includes a method to support, in parallel, home clients connected directly to the public network and clients connected to the public network via PBXs (PBX crucial data for recording is not available from the public network side); includes a method to support tens of thousands of clients within an integrated system; serves, in parallel, many businesses and private clients while keeping their privacy intact; enables multimedia recording of voice, fax, data, video and call centers"" agent""s screens; supports, in parallel, various types of public networks (wireline, wireless, etc.); and, supports a technology trend towards Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VoIP) and a variety of other protocols.
In view of the aforementioned limitations and restrictions related to the prior art, the present invention provides a system that comprises a robust solution to these limitations, including improvements to the prior art methods as well as unique technological advances never before considered.
An object of the present invention is to provide an architecturally flexible communication recording system that serves virtually any and all users who can contact a telecom network, via wireless or wireline technology, regardless of the location of the user.
Another object of the invention is to provide a communication recording and distribution system wherein each user can access and retrieve his/her own recorded communications without apprehension of unauthorized access by others.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a communication recording and distribution system that affords simple control by end-users such that they can designate specific communications to be recorded by various mechanisms.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a communication recording and distribution system wherein the parties to a recorded communication can be notified of the recording of the transmission either prior to, or during the recorded communication.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a communication recording and distribution system wherein recording can be initiated in several different ways. For example, recording can be performed all the time for certain subscribers, initiated based on predetermined rules or policies, such as, whenever the subscriber is talking, during certain hours of the day, etc., or based on manual input of a subscriber by, for example, pressing certain keys on a keypad.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a system that takes advantage of state-of-the-art technologies in several related network and communication areas and provides the subscriber with both financial and time savings as well as economies with respect to required resources and resource management.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a distributed communication acquisition and recording system capable of retrieving, recording and distributing packet and switch data in both wireless and wireline communications systems, wherein the communications can be generated at any one of many different types of communication sources and sent to another one, or more, of an equal number of different types of receiving devices.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a system capable of acquiring communications that are generated at designated sources, regardless of whether the communication is a wireless communication, a wireline communication, or a combination of both, recording the communication, and distributing the recorded communication upon request to a system subscriber authorized to receive the recording, and/or making the recording of the communication available to the subscriber via a variety of mechanisms.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a system that can acquire, record and distribute multimedia communications from sources, such as, circuit switch telephony networks, IP telephony networks and data networks using standard public tools, such as web browsers, e-mail and DTMF codes, for retrieving many different types of data that propagate through the system.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a system that utilizes, in parallel, a variety of wireline and wireless communication technologies, i.e., circuit switch and packet data, etc., to enable the recording and retrieval of audio, video and/or data communications.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a system capable of recording and distributing many different forms of multimedia communication, such as audio, video, fax, modem, web communications, etc., as well as other types of data, such as screen data corresponding to a particular computing device.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a system that avoids network overload conditions caused by, for example, recording throughput and system architecture, thus ultimately reducing potential data congestion and bottlenecks, by allocating and distributing sufficient resources throughout the system, i.e., between the acquisition and recording portions of the system and/or at the distribution portion.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a system that synchronizes data from different networks resulting in coherent data integration. For example, data from within an organization""s PBX can be integrated with data from networks in the public domain, i.e., PSTN.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a system that is scalable depending upon the needs and requirements of the subscribers as well as the amount of data throughput.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a system that enables each subscriber""s recorded content to be isolated from other user""s of the system as well as other user""s of the networks through which the subscriber""s data or call content travels.
To achieve these and other objects there is provided a system that includes; one or more access devices connected to a public network that is also connected to a plurality of multimedia communication devices, the access devices being operable to channel selected communications to acquisition devices, wherein the selected communications can be chosen based on their origin and/or destination; an access administrator associated with each access device that can determine which of the communications transmitted over the network are selected; one or more acquisition devices connected to the access devices that can acquire and process the selected communications from the access devices; one or more recording devices connected to the acquisition devices through a network, each of the recording devices being able to receive the selected communications from the acquisition devices and further able to store and archive the selected communications; and one or more distribution devices connected to the recording devices, each of the distribution devices being able to deliver the stored and archived communications based on a predetermined set of retrieval rules, or provide a mechanism by which individual users can access the recorded material via a variety of retrieval techniques.